The Tangled Webs We Weave
by EvenAngelsFall22
Summary: Rachel Adaire came to town for one reason: Revenge. When a shocking twist turns her life upside down, will she be able to do the right thing?
1. Chapter One

**_Summary_**: Dr. Rachel Adaire came to Port Charles for one reason: Revenge. A shocking twist reveals the family she never knew, and throws not just her plan, but also her whole world into a tailspin. Rachel-centric, but heavy with Courtney, Jason, and Carson.

**_Author's Note_**: Okay, I admit it, I love the character of Rachel, I think she has a lot of potential, and I'm going to try to redeem her character in this series. Of course, it won't be easy, but I think it can be done. I wasn't able to find much of a profile on this character, so I will be taking several huge liberties with the character. Also, the language is a little more coarse than I usually use, but I think Rachel's the kind of girl to have a potty mouth, lol. I know there aren't a lot of Rachel fans out there just yet, but please just give this a shot! As always, feedback is always appreciated.

This series starts the day Rachel was shot at the Metro-Court and then goes from there. Dialogue used from that episode are courtesy of TV Megasite.

* * *

**The Tangled Webs We Weave… -- Prologue**

The envelope had arrived by messenger exactly thirty-four minutes ago, but it was still sealed. She knew what it contained; her lawyer had called her and told her to be expecting it. She hadn't expected it so soon. She assumed it would have taken much longer than it had.

Thirty-five minutes now, and still, it sat on the desk in front of her unopened. Sure she had picked it up countless times, well, six times, and slid one perfectly manicured nail just underneath the flap, but still hadn't found the courage to open it.

Thirty-seven minutes. She sighed and thought of all the numbers. Thirty-eight minutes now since the envelope arrived. Four months since she had met with her the private investigator. Sixteen years since she found out.

Twenty-six years, two months, and twenty-one days since her mother decided she didn't want her.

Sighing, Rachel Adaire picked up the envelope once more and began pacing the length of the living room. She was the one that wanted to do this; she was the one who hired the PI to track down her family.

She didn't have time for this, she thought to herself as she paused to look out the window. She was a busy girl at the moment. She was right in the middle of her plan with AJ, she was just starting to make a name for herself at General Hospital; it was only a matter of time before Steven was taken care of.

She was on the verge of falling in love.

Now there was this. Sure, Rachel wanted to know who her real parents were. She had wanted to know ever since her tenth birthday when he drunken father had made her aware that she wasn't really his daughter. Her mother had tried to cover for her, but it was too late, the damage was done and she changed a little bit that day. She changed a lot the day her father died. The day her mother died, quite five months after her father, she had no idea who she even was anymore, she certainly wasn't someone she recognized, and she didn't even know her real last name. That was when she decided to see what she could find out.

But a few days after meeting with the private investigator, she had met AJ and was sucked into his game, and now, clearly, she didn't have the time for this. Not one bit.

It was pretty funny, Rachel realized with a short laugh. She could frame a completely innocent woman for murder but she couldn't open a stupid envelope.

"Oh this is just ridiculous," she said finally. Taking a deep breath she ripped open the envelope and lifted the cover of a manila folder.

"Son of a bitch," she muttered, staring at the single piece of paper. If what she saw was true, things were suddenly going to get a lot more interesting.

"It can't be true," she decided, her mind still racing a million miles a minute. She would go the hospital and look at the birth records and a DNA sample. This would all be cleared up in a matter of minutes and then she would let that stupid investigator have a piece of her mind. This was all a mistake, she thought as she grabbed her purse and headed out door.

"One fucking cosmic joke on me," she whispered, slamming the door behind her.

No way in hell was her mother Janine Matthews.

* * *

Rachel held her head in her hands as she rubbed her temples and looked at her watch again. This wasn't going as simply as she'd have liked. Courtney's blood type hadn't been on record at the hospital so she wasn't able to run a DNA test like she had planned. Again, the irony that Rachel knew everything else about Courtney didn't go unnoticed. So instead, she had contacted the hospital Janine had supposedly given birth to her in, and was waiting for a doctor there to fax her the paperwork.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Rachel jumped and craned her head to look behind her. "I hate when you do that!" she said lightly, swatting at the doctor standing there. She plastered a fake smile on her face.

Steven chuckled. "I know, I couldn't resist though, you always set yourself up for it." He sat down next to her. "You looked a million miles away, what's going on."

She tilted her head as she looked at him, remembering how supportive he had been the first time she had told him she was adopted. He had offered to help her look for her parents but she hadn't been ready at the time. She finally decided to tell him a partial truth; she had enough lies going on at the moment as it was.

"I might have found out who my real mother is," she said, glancing at her watch again. "Or at least, I'm definitely on the right track."

Steven's smile brightened. "Rach, that's great!" he said. "I'm so happy you finally decided to follow up on that. Do you know where she lives?"

"Somewhere on the East Coast," she answered vaguely. The fax machine started beeping, causing her to jump again. "I'm sorry, I've been waiting for this," she said, picking up the paper as it was spit out. "It's for one of my patients."

"Sure, I need to make some rounds as it is." Steven offered her another grin. "Let me know what happens, and if you need anything, just let me know." He touched her arm, and Rachel tried to ignore the shivers it sent down her spine. "I know we've been through a lot Rach, but I still care about you, I'll be here if you ever need me."

"Thanks," she said softly, offering him another smile, a real one this time. She slid the document into her folder and left the nurses' station. As she walked away she had to remind herself that she nearly ruined her career for that man. And that she had a new prospect, an Australian one at that, in her sights.

Once she was alone in her office she finally read the fax.

"God damn," she whispered. There was no question about it now; fate was playing the mother of all pranks on her.

If this was all true, she was in for more trouble than she ever imagined possible.

* * *

As the elevator climbed upwards to the Metro-Court, Rachel realized she was shaking. A few phone calls had confirmed her worst suspicions and now everything she had done not to mention a possible future with her family was thrown into jeopardy and there wasn't much she could do about it. Finally, the doors opened and she scanned restaurant, looking for them.

Sure enough, just as Jax had said, he and Courtney were seated near the bar. She paused to look at them for a moment. How could she do this? How could she tell Courtney what she had just found out? How could she make up for the horrible things she had already set into motion?

And more importantly, did she want to?

She bit her lip, thinking back to that fax. The one that had stated oh so clearly, in black and white, that her mother was indeed Janine Matthews.

It also stated that her father was one Michael Corbin, formerly Corinthos.

And then there was the most shocking piece of information of all. The one that read that on the day of July 28, 1978, Janine Matthews had given birth to fraternal twin daughters.

"Rachel!" She was snapped out of her thoughts as Jax called to her, waving at her. Taking a deep breath, and putting what she hoped was a calm look on her face, she walked over to them, passing a table of very well dressed men on her way.

"Hi," she said brightly, taking note of the sour expression on Courtney's face. "I'm sorry to interrupt, the concierge said something about a private party?"

"Please, join us," Jax said, rising to pull a chair out for her. "I was just telling Courtney about our time at Kelly's."

Rachel looked down at her hands. "Jax was very sweet to me that day, as I was having a bad one," she said, looking up at Courtney. "You're very lucky to have him."

"Yes, I am," Courtney answered tightly.

"Oh, you had a bad moment," Jax said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"No, he very perceptively realized that I was upset about an old love. And I didn't go into specifics then, but I know now -- I realize that I have to come clean. I have to tell you the truth." The whole truth, she thought to herself bitterly, realizing it definitely wasn't going to be an easy feat. She took a deep breath before continuing on.

"I've had a lot of problems in the past, and I've learned from a lot of my mistakes, and when something major happens, that can turn your whole life around, you start to evaluate things again and try to make up for those mistakes."

"That's great and all, really," Courtney said, setting her water glass down. "But you can forget the excuses and the it happened in the past speeches, and you can't undo the damage you have done. It's impossible, Rachel. You're—"

_Your twin sister_, she thought sadly. "I'm not out to get you Courtney, not this time. I promise you that. It's actually quite the opposite." She couldn't believe she actually about to tell Courtney the truth.

"Forgive me if I don't believe you," Courtney said bitterly. "But let's hear it Rachel, what do you have to say this time?"

As Rachel opened her mouth she saw the elevator doors slide open and two men walked out into the restaurant. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped as she saw them raise what looked like—no, they didn't have guns, did they?"

"Get down!" she heard Jax yell as he pushed his chair back and pushed both blondes to the floor as bullets started flying around the room. She felt a searing pain in her abdomen but rationalized it was merely a flesh wound and she would be fine a few stitches later.

She had to be fine, she thought, as bullets bounced off the walls and shattered glasses against the bar. She still had to tell Courtney what she had just found out.

The room began to dim and she assumed that someone had shot out the lights. Her last thought before she slipped into unconsciousness was that she wondered if Courtney was okay.


	2. Chapter Two

**Author's Note**: Aw you guys! It makes me so happy that some of you still decided to read this, knowing you didn't like Rachel; that really means a lot to me! Also, I'm glad to see that I'm not the only the one that wants to see Rachel reformed.

A lot of this chapter, and some of the chapters to come take place while Rachel is in a coma, so any paragraphs that are in italics are her thoughts, dreams, flashbacks, etc…

So I'm not sure about this chapter. I thought it would be easy to write a character who's in a coma, but guess what? Not so much. I'm not entirely convinced that I have Rachel or even Courtney characterized in this, so any constructive criticism or suggestions for improving anything are most welcome.

As always, I love the feedback and thanks for reading!

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**The Tangled Webs We Weave – Chapter Two**

_So it's really true what they say, you can be completely aware of everything going on around when you're unconscious. Remember that, and stop talking to yourselves in front of your patients. Okay then, just open your eyes; it can't be hard. Open them. Hmm. Maybe just one eye then. Dammit._

Rachel was aware, that much she knew. The paramedics had finally gotten her to General Hospital and she could hear them talking to whoever was in the emergency room at that time, but she couldn't make out the words.

_It shouldn't be too hard to figure out. I know what I would do if someone came in with a gunshot wound to the chest. Why are they so confused?_

"Oh God, it's Rachel." The voice was clear as a bell and oddly calming.

_Please, please, please. For the love of God, don't let Steven anywhere near me. Doesn't anyone here know that's a conflict of interest? Seriously, listen to him, he's a mess, he's ordering the wrong tests. I don't need a tox screen! I need to be in surgery. I'm stable enough now! Oh God, I'm going to die, Steven Webber is actually going to kill me._

"Steven, you have to stay here. Please."

_Who was that? Had to be Monica, I knew that woman was smart. Monica is AJ's mom though. Well crap, does she know anything about that? Probably not. Hmm. Thoughts going hazy now, must be the anesthesia._

The next few hours passed without her even knowing but once the anesthesia wore off Rachel's mind became clear again. And she could still hear voices.

"But she'll wake up soon right? I mean she is going to be okay, isn't she?"

"Rachel's in a coma. If she does wake up, I can't say when that will be."

_If? What the hell is if? Of course I'm going to wake up. Way to be optimistic Stevie. But who are you talking to?_

"Okay. Well, is it okay if I just sit here with her for a little while?"

_Is that Courtney? I guess that means she's okay. I wonder if Jax is too. And who the hell shot me in the first place?_

"Well, welcome to the world of mob violence Rachel. Bet you never dreamed you'd be shot by a hitman, huh? Well, you wouldn't have if you hadn't interrupted Jax and I. To be perfectly honest, you wouldn't have been anywhere near the gunfire if you hadn't thrown yourself into my life in the first place." Courtney took a deep breath. "I'm not saying you deserve it Rachel. No one deserves to be caught in the middle of that. But I won't lie. My life would be a lot easier if you were dead."

_No it wouldn't Courtney. You have no idea what will happen to you if I die, do you? You'll be arrested for AJ's murder before my time of death is called. Hell, if I don't wake up soon enough, you'll be arrested anyway. Jax won't be able to save you. Neither will your precious Jason, for that matter._

"I don't wish you dead though," Courtney continued. "Maybe everyone's right, I am too nice, and too trusting, but I don't want you dead." Courtney's voice became louder in her ear, causing Rachel to assume she had leaned closer. "I want you awake Rachel. I want you to fix what you've done to my life and I want you to pay for it."

_Fix it? Pay for it? If I could laugh I would. Courtney, you're clueless. When I wake up I am going to send your world crashing down. What will you do when you find out that we're sisters? Twins, at that? Will you welcome me with open arms like you did Sonny? And really, do I want you to?_

_Sonny. Oh my God. Sonny's my brother too. Shit. Michael's my nephew. I can't wake up now, as soon as I do, Sonny's going to kill me. What have I done?_

_Jesus, why couldn't I have known all of this before I met AJ? AJ. That bastard, he knew! He had to know. Seriously, it can't be coincidence that the person he's after is my sister. How did he find out? Did he know before we started sleeping together? I need to wake up. As soon as I wake up, I am going to kill AJ myself. I'm a damned smart woman I can definitely get rid of the body without anyone knowing about it. Everyone thinks he's dead anyway. Is someone else in here too?_

"How is she?"

Courtney sighed. "Steven doesn't know if or when she'll wake up," she said, running a hand through her hair. "What are you doing here, are you done talking to the police?"

Jax nodded. "We need to talk about that," he said. "I need to know why you told them Jason was meeting you at the restaurant."

"What did you say to Mac? Did you go along with what I said?"

"I didn't have a choice Courtney." Even in her persona non grata state, Rachel could tell he was annoyed. "Can you explain to me why we're covering for Jason again?"

"Can we talk about this later?"

"I think we should talk about it now," Jax persisted.

"I can't right now," Courtney said, shaking her head. "We'll do it later, okay?"

"Fine." Jax sighed. "Are you okay?" he asked, his voice softening. "It's only been a few hours since the shooting, maybe you should let me take you home, and you can rest for awhile."

"No." Courtney turned around and stared at Rachel again. "I'm going to stay here for a little while longer."

"Why?" Jax looked at her curiously.

"I don't know, I can't explain it. I just want to stay and talk with Steven the next time he comes in. Then I'll come home." She smiled at him then. "Why don't you go on though? I'll come meet you in an hour or so?"

"I'll have dinner and champagne waiting, maybe a hot relaxing bubble bath too," Jax said, smiling as he momentarily forgot that they were in the middle of a semi-fight.

"Sounds great." Courtney leaned over and kissed him. "I'll be home soon." She smiled as he walked out of the room. "Finally," she muttered as she watched him walk into the elevator.

_Trouble in paradise Courtney? God, coma patients must live off of all the drama that comes in and out of their rooms, it's like a god damned soap opera. So you lied to the cops to protect your ex-husband, no wait, I mean your non-husband, and you're making your fiancé lie too? If I weren't the one framing you for murder, I'd say you were the evil twin._

_Which brings me back to that. Do you really need to know? Sure, I was about to tell you earlier today, but maybe I was shot for a reason. If I don't tell you, we won't have to go through all of that awkward crap about mending fences and putting the past behind us, because let's face it, that's probably not going to happen. If I do tell you, everyone's going to be thrown into a world of pain and once again, I'll be blamed for ruining lives._

_I know who my family is now, that's all I really wanted anyway. I don't have to try and have a relationship with all of you. It's really not necessary._

Rachel drifted off into darkness, not sure if she could call it sleeping or not, as Steven walked back into the room.

"Steven, have you contacted her family? I mean she has to have someone we can call, in case something goes wrong, right?" Courtney walked out into the hallway with the doctor after he had checked Rachel's vital signs.

The curly-haired doctor shook his head. "She told me earlier today that she may have found her birth mother but I don't know if she contacted her or not."

"Birth mother? Rachel was adopted?"

"You didn't know?" Steven's brow furrowed as he ran a hand over his head. "I thought you and Rachel were best friends." He nodded at Courtney's silence. "I guess I was right in assuming you two weren't as close as she made it out to be. Rachel's adopted parents both died a few years ago, and she has no brothers and sisters."

"So she has no one?" Courtney's head swiveled back in the direction of Rachel's room.

"Not unless she managed to call the woman she thought was her mother." Steven looked at his watch. "I'm sorry, I have another patient to check on, are you going to be here for awhile, or are you leaving?"

"I'll be here for awhile," Courtney murmured, still looking through the door to Rachel's room. She sat down on the bench outside of the room and put her head in her hands, closing her eyes. She didn't know how long she stayed like that until she heard unmistakable footsteps approach her.

"Courtney?"

She picked her head up. "Jason, hey." She moved over so he could sit down next to her. "They let you go already?"

He nodded. "Not enough evidence to hold me."

"Yeah well, you're welcome," she said dryly.

"Thank you," he said sincerely. "You didn't have to do what you did, I know it can't have been easy."

She lifted her shoulders in a slight shrug. "Just tell me one thing?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Why did you really show up at the Metro-Court today?" she asked.

He shook his head and looked away, staring off into the distance, but not at anything in particular. "I was at the park, and Carly and I were talking, and she told me you were having lunch there. I reacted, I knew what was going to happen and I knew those guys would have no idea who you were, and I had to stop them."

"But you set yourself up. You could easily have just called them, couldn't you have?"

Again, he shook his head. "I told you, I reacted. I just knew I had to be there to make sure."

Courtney nodded. "Thank you," she said softly, placing a hand on his arm. She let it linger a moment longer than she should have before drawing it away again.

Jason just turned and trained his eyes on hers, nodding so slightly she wasn't sure if she had imagined it. It amazed her even now, the nonverbal conversations they could have with each other.

"How's Rachel?" he asked, gesturing to the room. "Is she going to be okay?"

"It's wait and see right now," Courtney said. "Actually, God Jase, I hate to even ask this, but maybe you could help me with something."

"What is it?"

"Look, not that anyone knows, but Rachel was adopted, and both of her parents are dead, and she has no brothers or sisters. Steven said that today Rachel told him she had maybe found her birth mother but he doesn't know if they talked or not." She looked back into the room. "She needs family with her right now, no matter how well they know each other or not."

Jason nodded again. "I'm actually on my way to meet Stan, but I'll have him call you as soon as we're done and he'll help you find any family she has."

"Thank you so much," she said, offering him another smile. "I know things are crazy right now, and I hate to even ask, but it's just… nobody deserves to lie in a hospital alone."

He waved his hand dismissively. "It's no problem at all. Stan will call you in a few hours." He stood up, and she followed suit. "But until then, she has you, right?"

"Right." Courtney looked away uncomfortably. She still hadn't told anyone about Rachel's blackmail, and now she wasn't sure if she should or not. She smiled again. "Again, thanks for everything, I'm going to go sit with her for awhile."

"You're welcome. And thank you again." She watched as Jason turned and walked away before going back into the hospital room.

She sat down next to bed, drawing her chair as close as she could. She sighed as she stared down at Rachel. She looked so small lying there. Courtney would even go as far as to say that she looked harmless, even.

"Talk about awkward," she whispered finally. "I don't know why I'm here Rachel, I just am. I should probably be terrified right now, I should be waiting for Mac to bust in here to arrest me for AJ's murder." She laughed softly. "I should probably be on my way to the PCPD or at least to Jax to tell them everything you've done to me. Of course, I can't prove it, but there has to be something I can do to save myself here." She leaned closer. "I know I've already said this, but I'm going to keep saying it. You need to wake up Rachel. You need to wake up and take responsibility for what you did because I will not go down for a crime you committed." Her eyes traveled from the wires attached to her to their sources. "It'd be simple, you know," she spoke more to herself than to the other blonde. "One switch, one tube pulled loose, and you'd be out of my life once and for all." She took a shaky breath before going on.

"You're lucky I'm not that kind of person though. God only knows what would happen to me if something happened to you."

Rachel had become aware of her surroundings somewhere in the middle of Courtney's speech and her mind was racing. Courtney actually contemplated killing her for however brief a moment it was. There was no way, she realized with a sinking heart. No way she could ever rectify the damage she had done to her.

_Besides, I still need you Courtney. I need you to kill Steven. God, what a Lifetime movie we are, sisters killing our respective others for each other. What good would a compulsive gambling father and a con-artist mother be to me? Yeah, it's better this way. I know who you all are, but I don't need anything from you._

Courtney was still talking. "I guess it's really not doing you any good, me sitting here and being negative, but really, Rachel, what else can I do? Sit here and tell you everything's going to be all right?" She looked down at the blonde again and sighed. "Everything is going to be okay," she said finally. "We both know you aren't going to let go of your vendetta and give up so easily, that's just not you." Her eyes traveled down to Rachel's hands and she hesitated.

_God, you are a sap! Don't do this, please, don't do this. You need to stay bitter at me Courtney. Please, just make this easy for me. I can't tell you now. There's no way."_

Courtney bit her lip. "We need to settle this Rachel," she said softly. "So you just have to wake up soon okay?"

_I'm not telling you the truth. You can't ever know._ Rachel was almost entirely convinced that she was doing the right thing. She knew she couldn't let anyone know what she had found out and she knew what would happen if they did. She was almost convinced, repeating it a few more times would convince her completely. She was one _I won't say anything_ away from believing herself when the unthinkable happened.

"Just wake up," Courtney repeated, covering Rachel's hand with her own.

Even in her morphine-induced state Rachel could feel the shock pulse through her body as their hands touched. It was a sensation unlike any she had ever experienced before, it was as though they were connected and for a brief moment she felt Courtney's hand clench hers before she gasped and pulled away quickly.

_Damn._


	3. Chapter Three

**Author's Note**: So my new goal is to turn ALL of you into Rachel fans… Seriously, I love that even those of you who still don't like her are reading this. Makes me smile.

As for this chapter…well…I never thought I'd have to post this warning in front of one of my stories but, wow it's even hard to type this, I wonder what typing the actual scene will be like… I'm sorry guys… there's a Jax/Courtney scene coming up. I'm really sorry, but I'm sure once you read it, you'll be okay. I promise.

**

* * *

****The Tangled Webs We Weave – Chapter 3**

Courtney paused outside of the door to her loft to fumble through her purse for her keys. She knew she had agreed to meet Jax at his place after she left the hospital but she was exhausted and just wanted to climb into her own bed and sleep. She would call Jax as soon as she changed her clothes, and hoped he would understand. Truth be told, she didn't care if he understood or not, she just wanted a little bit of time to herself to process what had just happened.

"Here we go," she muttered to herself, finally retrieving the key and unlocking her door. It swung open and she stepped inside, anxious to get into pajamas and crawl into bed.

"Hello Gorgeous!" She froze in the doorway.

"Jax." She forced a smile onto her face as she shut the door behind her. "What are you doing here?"

He smiled at her and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I was at my place and I realized you would probably come home first to change, so I thought I'd make it easier for you by bringing everything here instead."

"Oh." She nodded and sat down to take off her shoes, sighing as her bare toes sunk into the plush carpet. She wriggled them around and closed her eyes.

When she opened them again Jax was standing directly in front of her, holding a champagne flute in his outstretched hand. "What do you say we get you all relaxed?" he asked.

_Why not_, Courtney asked herself as she took the glass from him. Reflexively she finished it in three long swallows. "Thank you. Do you think you could maybe run that bath for me?" she asked.

"Of course. I'll be right back." Jax dropped a kiss on her cheek before heading into the other room.

Courtney waited until he closed the door behind him before letting out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding. She stood up and walked over to the table where the champagne bottle stood. As she reached out to pour another glass she saw that the sleeve of her shirt was stained dark red in some spots. _Rachel's blood_, she realized as she took another sip. "Definitely time to get out of these clothes," she said to herself as she crossed the room to her closet, peeling off her clothes the whole way.

By the time Jax came back into the living room she was wrapped in an old pink terrycloth bathrobe and her long blonde hair was piled on the top of her head. "All set?" she asked, smiling brightly at him.

"The water is the perfect temperature," he declared. He frowned slightly. "Why are you still wearing that when I brought you that green silk one from Greece?" he asked.

She sighed, thinking of the pile of green silk that still lay wrapped in tissue paper at the top of her closet. "This one's more comfortable," she said as she sailed past him on her way to the bathroom. She instantly felt guilty and paused at the door to turn back and face him. "You're still going to be here when I'm done right?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. She smiled as he nodded. "Good." She disappeared into the bathroom.

Courtney sighed as her body fell into the steaming bath, the heat instantly soothing her tired muscles as she sank up to her chin. She inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of the jasmine bath oil, as her mind tried to process the events of the entire day.

It hadn't really hit her until then just how close she had come to losing her life and would have if Jason hadn't shown up. A part of her not to read too much into it, that he had only gone to the hotel simply because he couldn't let innocent people get hurt.

There was a bigger part of her however, that couldn't let go of the conversation they had at the hospital and she had to wonder that it there was more to it than he was letting on.

She sighed, sinking deeper and closing her eyes. She really was tired, her mind couldn't focus on one thing for too long of a time, and before she knew it, she was reliving the last few minutes she had spent in Rachel's room.

_"Just wake up," Courtney whispered, covering Rachel's hand with her own._

_Instantly she felt something similar to a shock course through her body and she gripped Rachel's hand tighter for a second before releasing it, and bringing her own hand against her chest. She opened her eyes and looked down at Rachel to see if there was any indication that she had felt anything._

_Rachel was still motionless, her eyes closed, the only movement Courtney could see was the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed._

"_What's going on?" she asked, speaking more to herself than to Rachel. She bit her lip and reached out tentatively towards Rachel's hand again._

"_How's she doing?" Steven asked from the doorway._

"_No change," she replied, quickly dropping her hand at her side as she stood up. "But I do need to be going," she said. She cast a glance over her shoulder at Rachel again. "You'll call me if anything does change?" she questioned. Steven nodded at her and she thanked him before leaving the room._

Courtney opened her eyes and inspected her hand. She wriggled the fingers slowly and if she concentrated enough, she could still feel the same feeling pulse through to the tips that had earlier. She didn't understand it.

"What could it have been?" She whispered as she slid her eyes closed again.

_

* * *

__Oh my God, is he going to remind me of every single thing we ever did together? How does he even remember all of this stuff? I don't even remember what I wore on my last date with AJ and Steven apparently remembers what I wore on the first day of surgical rounds? That's either really crazy or incredibly sweet._

_But my God, if he brings up one more 'remember when' story I swear on all things holy that the first thing I do when I wake up is strangle him._

"Oh Rachel." Steven leaned forward and picked up her hand. "How did you end up in Port Charles to begin with?" he asked, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. "You always said you belonged where the sun shone for eighteen hours a day and it never snowed. You wanted to be on a tropical island and nothing was going to change your mind. As soon as were done with your residency, that was it, you were going to be gone."

He set her hand back down to her side and leaned even closer to her. "Do you remember when—"

_Here we go…_

"When we first started our rounds out in Chicago. It was just after our first date." Steven laughed slightly. "You walked into the hospital at four in the morning, just pissed. Absolutely livid because there was nine inches of snow on the ground and they were still calling for another six by noon. You swore up and down that you wouldn't spend another day, another second in Chicago and insisted on being transferred to another hospital."

_Yeah, so? They didn't let me go._

"Well, needless to say, the Chief of Staff didn't think an aversion to snow was a valid excuse for a transfer, so you were stuck. Stuck in Chicago, and stuck with me."

_Hard to say which was worse really.._

"And while I was happy that you were staying put, I still saw you were unhappy, so do you remember what I did?"

_You're the one who's freaking Rainman, Steven, you tell me._

"I know you remember Rach. Remember, I got some of the other residents to cover for us and I stole you away from the hospital for three whole hours. Remember that? I took you to the uh, the hot tub gardens, that's right. And even though we were outside in the middle of twenty-six degree weather, the hot tub was amazing, right?" Steven chuckled. "We fought over which room we wanted, you wanted Bali, I wanted the British Isles. Of course, we ended up in the Bali room, and it was so great. I remember there were flowers all over the place, and the floor was covered in sand and it was just like being on the beach."

_Oh yeah. Come to think of it, that was a pretty sweet thing for you to do. We were in the hot tub and it was so bizarre because it looked like we were on the beach and yet there was snow falling on us. You started laughing at me because my hair kept freezing and then you pulled me under the water and when I came up…oh wow._

"That was our first time together Rach," Steven continued. "You got under my skin then, and even now, I wonder what would have happened if, well you know what if."

_If I hadn't nearly ruined my career for you? You know what would have happened? We still would have broken up because you drive me crazy._

_Why are you doing this to me now? We've been over for so long and the only reason I'm here is well, to make you pay for what you put me through._

_Get real Rachel. You're not going to do anything to Steven and you know it. Not now. Not with everything else going on. You're going to need a friendly face, and as long as you can keep him from finding out, he's going to be it._

_Oh. Did I just decide to let Courtney out of the plan? Damn this stupid coma! I can't keep my thoughts clear or in order and they haven't slowed down, if anything, they've speeded up. I just need to wake up and process all of this. I don't know how much more I can take._

Steven sighed. "I need to get back to work, but I'll check in on you later. Courtney said she'd be back in the morning, you're really lucky to have her for a friend." He bent down and kissed her forehead. "Wake up soon Sweetie. I'll be back soon."

_Well that was interesting. What do I do now? There's no way I could possibly still have feelings for him. Not after all that's happened. No. If anything, he's just talking me to try and make me wake up. Saying anything he thinks will make me wake up._

_Yeah, that's it._

* * *

"You're so beautiful," Jax murmured, burying his face in her shoulder.

"Mmm." Courtney turned her head to the side and bit her lip. When she had gotten out of the bathtub all she had wanted to do was curl up in her bed and sleep, but Jax had other plans, and while sex had been the last thing on her mind, she felt she owed him tonight for making him lie to the police. Besides, she had reasoned, she had spent enough nights with Jax to know exactly what to do and then she could sleep.

What she hadn't counted on was Jax wanting to take his time, and he was taking _forever._ Her eyes focused on the flickering candles that were on her nightstand and she winced as he bit her neck. She moaned softly because she knew he was waiting to hear it and closed her eyes.

He always bit too hard, she reflected. If there was one thing she had been willing to bet on when she first met Jasper Jacks, it was that he would be an incredible lover, and while she hadn't had much to compare him too, she had been slightly disappointed after the fact. It made sense, she had realized later. How he threw money around on anything and everything without a care in the world, what he was really doing was overcompensating.

A small giggle escaped her lips and she was relieved when Jax took it as a good sign and quickened his pace. His hands gripped her waist and she gritted her teeth as his nails dug painfully into her flesh.

_Jason was never harsh in bed. He was always gentle and – Stop it!_ Courtney chastised herself. She felt horrible for letting her thoughts drift to her ex-husband and she concentrated all of her energy on Jax.

This was what the rest of her life was going to be like, she realized, as she wrapped her arms around him, softly encouraging him. Champagne hazes and mediocre lovemaking with a man she wasn't sure that she really even loved to begin with. She told herself she did, she convinced everyone around her that she did, but she still couldn't be sure.

Stop it! She scolded herself. Her life was moving forward, Jax would give her everything she wanted, whether it was spoiling and worshipping her, which she had to admit was nice, or giving her the safety and stability that she craved.

_Besides_, she argued silently with herself. _He's moved on. He's with another woman and more importantly he's happy. You have to let go, Courtney. You have to let go._

_You have to move on_. She realized that Jax was waiting for her and keeping everything she had just told herself in mind, she allowed herself one final nod to the past.

She murmured to Jax in hushed tones, telling him everything he wanted to hear from her, everything she wanted him to do, and while he was the one here with her and focused wholly on her, Courtney was fantasizing about her ex-husband and the last time they had made love.

Jax drifted off to sleep soon after, his arms wrapped tight around her, and while sleep was the one thing Courtney wanted most that night, it was the only thing evading her. She freed her right hand from underneath the blanket and stared at it in the moonlight. Still even now, after hours had passed, she could feel what she had when she had touched Rachel, and the longer she looked at it, the more unsettled she felt.

"What's going on Rachel?" she whispered to herself once again. She remembered that Stan had never gotten back to her as Jason had said he would and made a mental note to try and call him in the morning. Stan, she clarified in her mind. Not Jason.

Maybe she was just feeling sorry for Rachel, that she really had no family to speak of and she felt obligated to be there for her. Maybe once she found Rachel's mother, she could shake that eerie feeling she had had ever since she left the hospital.

Maybe she could get Rachel to change her mind on the whole AJ/Steven mess and move on with her life.

Sighing, she turned and looked at Jax, who snored softly beside her. She had to tell him sooner or later about Rachel's blackmail, and maybe he could help her figure things out.

_Tomorrow_, she thought as she yawned. _Tomorrow I'll tell Jax everything_.

_Jax._

_Not Jason._


	4. Chapter Four

**Author's Note:** Alright, I finally have an update for you! It's a little rushed, I was trying really hard to actually get something written and hopefully, it's still enjoyable! Anything set apart by "xxxxx" is a flashback.

* * *

**Chapter 4 -- The Tangled Webs We Weave**

"So Rachel, what do you say? Will you spend forever with me in paradise?"

"I could definitely get used to this," Rachel replied, her eyes sweeping over the sandy beach and resting on the blue-green waves that crashed against the shore. She reclined against the chaise and closed her eyes against the sun. "But forever is an awfully long time AJ."

"Not long enough where you're concerned." AJ laughed. "I'm sorry, was that cheesy? It was; it was lame. I can't help it though, you captivate me Rachel. You leave me tongue-tied and I haven't felt this way since, well, it's been a long time."

Rachel peered over the top of her Chanel sunglasses, smiling at the man who sat at her feet. "Tell me about her," she said, nudging him with her foot.

"About who?" AJ picked up her foot and massaged it.

'The Queen of Spain." Rachel rolled her eyes. "The girl who broke your heart. The one who's made you so bitter."

"I'm not bitter anymore," he replied, tickling the soles of her feet. "Not since I found you."

"Charmer." She smirked at him, removing her feet from his grasp. "Come on, tell me about her. If you tell me everything, I'll share my own past sordid heartache with you and we'll see who wins." She smiled at him coyly. "Please?"

"Oh all right." AJ made a big production of sighing. "Her name was Courtney and the day she married me was the happiest day of my life…"

xxxxxxxxxxxx

_Jesus, I really did fall into his trap with my eyes wide shut. Or is it eyes wide open? Either way, I was a fool and AJ had no problem manipulating me._

_Manipulating, is that what he did? Was it really that difficult to begin with? I'm not a stupid woman; chances are I would have formed my own revenge against Steven on my own._

_AJ just made it a lot easier for me._

xxxxxxxxxxxx

"So you see Rach, it's the perfect plan!" AJ's eyes lit up like a child's would on Christmas morning. "In Courtney's mind, the only thing worse than being married to me would be giving me half of her foundation money. She'll refuse signing over anything to me. She'll threaten me with litigation and her big bad brother, but she won't give me a cent. But she'll do it in person. She'll come to the Bahamas to see me, and that's all we need. We just need her to be here."

Rachel sighed and rolled over in bed, taking the sheet with her. Over the past weeks, AJ had become infatuated with this plan. "I don't know AJ, it seems awfully farfetched."

"Trust me, it's not." AJ sighed as he watched Rachel walk over to the balcony and look out. "Rachel, she deserves everything that we'll do to her. I deserve everything we're going to get from her. And you deserve to have your revenge on Steven."

Rachel whirled and faced him. "How does Steven fit into this?" she asked. "You've never said anything about Steven."

AJ grinned. "Steven lives in Port Charles," he explained. "If we're going to frame Courtney for my murder, we can easily have her murder Steven."

"Don't say murder," Rachel said with a shudder. "This is all starting to sound like a bad movie with all the murder and revenge talk."

"I'm sorry." AJ walked up behind her and slid his arms around her. "Rachel, what Steven did to you was terrible. After all you did for him, after saving his career, he tossed you aside like garbage. You deserve so much more than that. You've earned the right to make him pay for that. He's the same as Courtney. They need to pay for what they did to us." He took her silence as acceptance, knowing her resolve was weakening.

"I thought you were like me," he whispered into her hair. "I thought you wanted to have everything in the world, and I'm telling you Rach, if we go through with this, we will have everything. We'll be untouchable, and more importantly, we'll be together."

Rachel sighed and leaned back against him. "Do you really think everything will go as planned?" she asked reluctantly.

AJ smiled into her hair. "I haven't let you down yet, have I?"

xxxxxxxxxxxx

_He was good; I'll give him that. Not that I made it hard for him, I let him worm his way into my life with expensive presents and cheap promises. Seriously though, what woman doesn't want to be spoiled though? Who doesn't want to be treated like that?_

_Why did I agree to everything? Yes, I hated Steven. Hated? Hate? Whatever, he wasn't my favorite person by any means, but up until I met AJ, had I really wanted him dead? I can't say the thought of death had ever actually entered my head. Sure, I thought about cutting off his hair while he slept, but I never thought about stabbing him with those scissors._

_AJ's sneaky; I'll give him that too. How could I be so foolish to believe that he was actually in love with me? Because it's obvious now that he wasn't. I was just another player in his twisted game._

_If only I had researched everything a little bit better, this all could have been avoided._

_It wouldn't have been hard to find out the truth about Courtney and why she left AJ. Hell, the guy made her life a living hell. I probably would have retaliated by sleeping with his brother as well._

_Get real Rachel. Courtney's never done a thing in retaliation. She's not like that; you're the one to possess all of those traits._

_It doesn't matter how kind and good Courtney is though, she's never going to forgive you for what you've done._

_Yes, AJ really does know how to ruin lives._

* * *

"Jax?" Courtney opened her eyes upon finding herself alone in bed. She rolled over and blinked several times before her eyes focused on Jax, who was in the living room talking animatedly on his phone.

She sighed and buried her face in her pillow. She was exhausted. She hadn't slept for more than twenty minutes last night, and she couldn't afford to spend all day in bed, no matter how tempting it was.

It wasn't just the whole Rachel thing that was bothering her; it was everything else too. She kept thinking about Michael, and how she hadn't spent much time with him in the weeks before his disappearance, and she thought about Carly and Sonny, and how they were, or weren't, in Carly's case, dealing with it. She had been so consumed with her own life lately, with Rachel, and with Jax, that she had neglected everyone else that was important to her.

She slid out of bed to stand in the doorway and watched as Jax ended his call and put the phone down. "Hey," she said softly as he started going through a pile of paperwork. "Working from here this morning?" she asked, walking over to him.

He looked up and nodded. "I just needed to go through some stuff, but didn't want to leave you alone," he said absently, placing a kiss on the top of her head. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"You didn't," she assured him, wrapping the robe around her tighter and smiling at him.

"You didn't sleep much last night," he noted. "I was trying to let you sleep in, but I guess that didn't work. Is everything okay?"

She hesitated, watching as he opened a notebook and began writing. It was obvious he was busy with work, but if she was going to tell him, it had to be now.

"Actually." She sat down next to him and took a sip from his cup of coffee. It was bitter, she noted, remembering that Jax drank his coffee black whereas she turned hers into a sugary sludge. "There is something we need to talk about."

"Yeah?" he asked absentmindedly, not looking up from his writing. "Is it something about the wedding?"

"No." She bit her lip and then placed her hand on the notebook, taking it from his grasp. "It's about Rachel," she said.

"Rachel?" He put down his pen and finally turned to look at Courtney. "What about her?"

xxxxxxxxxxxx

"You son of a bitch!" Rachel didn't bother waiting until AJ was completely in the room.

"That's an interesting way of greeting the love of your life." AJ smiled at her. "Having a bad day, dear?"

"You bastard, did you think I wouldn't find out?" She thrust a stack of papers at him. "You've got an entire background check on me here. You went behind my back and found out every little detail of my life? Everything! My whole relationship with Steven, my family, everything about school and my career…AJ what the hell did you think you were doing?"

AJ looked at the papers he was now holding. "Rachel, honey, I can explain," he said, putting the papers down on the desk and walking over to her. "You have it all wrong."

"Do I?" she laughed bitterly. "You have no idea what I'm thinking right now."

"Sure I do," he said. "You're upset, you think I don't trust you."

"Obviously you don't," she retorted. "AJ, out of everything you could have done, you do this? You know I don't trust easily, and I trusted you."

"You can still trust me," AJ said, stepping closer. "Just let me explain," he said, smiling sweetly at her.

"Go ahead, explain," she said with a wave of her hand. She folded her hands in front of her and waited expectantly.

"I didn't mean to upset you, that's why I never told you about this," he said soothingly. "The only reason I even had the check done was I wanted to make sure there was nothing in your past that could jeopardize the plan," he added. "I was just trying to protect you."

"Protect me," she said, smiling a little. Her voice softened as she ran a hand over the side of his face. "You mean, you only looked into my past after you told me about the plan to keep me safe?"

"Exactly," he said, sliding his arms around her. "I love you Rachel, I couldn't stand it if anything else bad happened to you."

"You're so sweet," she said as she moved her hands over his back and brought them around to his stomach. "I don't know what I'd do without you AJ." She looked up at him through her eyelashes. "There's just one more little thing," she said, toying with his belt buckle.

"What's that?" he asked, running his hand through her hair.

She moved her hand down and grabbed him in a vice-like hold, ignoring his strangled yelp. "You're a goddamn liar AJ," she said venomously through clenched teeth as she tightened her grip. These papers are dated two weeks before I even ever met you so don't you dare tell me you were just looking out for my best interests." She released her hand and smiled satisfactorily as he collapsed over the back of a chair.

She walked over to the couch and sat down. She rolled her eyes as AJ gasped for air and tried to stand. "You have five minutes to start explaining, and it better be damn good or I'm walking, and you'll never see me again."

"Actually." AJ stood up and faced Rachel; his eyes level with hers. "You're not in any position to be making idle threats to me." He walked over to her and Rachel took small satisfaction in the fact that he was limping.

"Looks like you're not in much position to do anything," she replied with a giggle. Her smile faded when she saw the look on AJ's face.

"I mean it Rachel, don't even think about walking out on the plan or me right now. You can't. I won't let you."

"Can't?" She shook her head. "AJ, you're sicker than I thought. Forget it, I'm not going to be a part of this stupid revenge plot anymore. Find yourself another girl."

"I can't," he said, grabbing her hand as she tried to walk past him. "Believe me, I would if I could, but it has to be you."

"And if it's not?"

"Then I'll ruin your life more than you ever thought possible."

xxxxxxxxxxxx

"So let me get this straight." Jax spoke slowly as he looked at her. "The first time you met Rachel was on the plane back from the Bahamas, and then suddenly she showed up on your doorstep and told you she killed AJ for you? And now, she wants you to kill Steven? Is that what you're telling me?"

Courtney nodded. "Basically, yes," she admitted.

"Do you know how much sense that makes?"

"None," she agreed. "Jax, I know, believe me, I know it doesn't make sense at all."

He just stared at her for a minute before standing up to pace the length of the room. Finally, he turned and looked at her.

"Courtney, did you do it?" he asked finally.

"What?"

"Did you kill AJ? Honey, if you did, please, tell me, and we'll get through this, we'll make sure nothing happens to you."

"You think I killed AJ?" She shook her head. "Jax, how could you think that?"

"Well, Courtney, I don't know!" He paced again. "But if you did, you can't just place the blame on one of your closest friends who's in a coma and can't defend herself."

She stared at him. "Jax, I just told you! I don't know Rachel! I just met her a few months ago."

"Oh come on Courtney, I know what this is about!" He sat down next to her and sighed. "Look, I know you've noticed Rachel flirting with me, and I get that you might be jealous, but honey, that's no reason to accuse her of murder."

"Are you serious?" Courtney stared at him in disbelief. "I sit here and tell you that I'm being not only framed for murder, but also blackmailed into actually killing someone, and your first instinct is to accuse me of making it up because I'm jealous?"

"It would make more sense than what you're saying," Jax admitted. "I'm sorry Courtney, but it just doesn't make sense at all. Rachel doesn't strike me as a psychotic killer."

"I can't believe you," she said. "You seriously think I killed AJ?"

"Courtney, if you did, I promise, I'll help you get through this."

She stared at him again. "I didn't kill AJ," she repeated.

"And I want to believe that."

She shook her head, turning away from him. "I should have waited until I talked to Jason." The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.

"Of course, you went running to Jason first, didn't you?" Jax sounded harsh. "I thought you weren't going to have him fix your problems anymore, remember that? He's not supposed to be the one you turn to now."

"I didn't!" She protested. "If you'd let me explain, yes, I went to Jason and asked him to check Rachel's background. He has the means to do that, and you don't. But as for everything else? I'm sorry to disappoint you but I haven't told him that Rachel killed AJ. You're the only one I've told and you know what? I'm sorry I did."

"Of course you are." Without another word Jax left the loft, slamming the door behind him.

"Perfect," she whispered to herself, sitting back down on the sofa. She closed her eyes and rested her head in her hands. She wasn't sure how long she sat like that but she didn't move until she heard her cell phone ringing from the other room.

"Hello?"

"It's me."

"Jason, hey."

"Hi. I had Stan pull the information on Rachel." She noticed his voice sounded off. 'Can you meet me this morning?"

"Sure." She looked at her watch. "Where do you want to meet?"

"You can come by here, I'll be here until after lunch," he offered.

"Okay, yeah, great. I'll be there soon. Bye." She hung up the phone just as it rang again. She saw Jax's name flashing on the LCD and pressed the button on the side of the phone, the one that silenced the ringer and directed the call to voicemail.

* * *

_He knew. He knew the whole time that Courtney and I were sisters. AJ never gave a damn about me, he needed me to make sure he could hurt her in every way possible. Oh he's going to pay. I'm going to make sure of that._

Rachel's eyes opened slowly and she blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to the dim light in her room. A smile spread across her face slowly as she looked over at the phone on the table next to her bed.

_Yes, _she thought as she reached for the phone. _He'll pay._


	5. Chapter Five

**Author's Note: **Took forever, I know, but here's an update. Thank you to everyone who's reading!

* * *

**The Tangled Webs We Weave – Chapter 5**

Courtney sat patiently on the sofa and waited. Jason had been on the phone when he answered the door and told her it would only be a few minutes more. That was almost twenty minutes ago but she didn't mind much. It wasn't as if she had anywhere else to be, she didn't want to go to the hospital until she had any information she could give to Steven about Rachel's family. She didn't mean to eavesdrop but certain words kept snagging her interest. Her eyes roamed the room and settled on the mantle over the fireplace. The same pictures were there as always, but she noticed there was more of Michael than had been there before.

"Sorry about that," he apologized, putting his phone down and sitting down across from her. "I didn't think it would take so long."

"That's okay." Courtney smiled sadly at him. "It's hard isn't it?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Michael." She sighed. "I didn't meant to but I heard part of your phone call, you were talking about Michael."

He nodded slowly. "I have people in New Orleans still," he admitted. "Carly's never going to believe he's gone if we don't have proof." He wasn't about to tell Courtney what he was really doing; he couldn't get her hopes up as well.

"What about you?" Her soft voice broke through his thoughts and he looked at her again. "Do you believe it?"

"Yes," he lied quietly, turning to grab some papers off of the coffee table. He couldn't lie to her face.

She took his silence as sadness and decided not to press the issue though she still wanted to talk to him about Michael. She had made a mess of things with Sonny, and Carly was far too grief-stricken to turn to, and Jax, well, he had no connection to Michael at all.

But she wasn't going to force it, not today. "You said Stan found something?" she asked, hoping the transition wasn't too abrupt. "Did he find her family?"

"Yeah. Courtney, tell me the truth about Rachel."

Courtney looked down at her hands. "We aren't friends from high school," she admitted. "But you figured that out already, didn't you?"

"How did you meet her?"

Courtney laughed despite herself. "You're not going to believe me. I met her on my flight back from the Bahamas. She was in the seat next to me and somehow we started talking about AJ, and everything he had put me through." She shrugged. "I needed to vent about it, and she seemed sympathetic enough and she was willing to listen."

"And she just showed up on your doorstep after that?"

Courtney brought her eyes to level with his. "Rachel killed AJ. And she's going to frame me for the murder if I don't kill Steven Webber."

"She what?"

She took a deep breath. "It sounds crazy, I know. Believe me, I know. But it's true."

"Why Steven Webber?"

"Rachel and Steven were involved years ago, when they were both just out of medical school," Courtney explained. "She risked her career to save his when they almost lost a patient and soon after, he broke up with her." She smiled wryly. "Rachel didn't take well to that, and I don't know. I guess once she found out I happened to be from the same town Steven was working in, her twisted mind came up with this… this twisted plan of hers. She kills the man who ruined my life; in return, I kill the one who ruined hers. And if I don't, well, then she frames me for the murder. Which she's capable of, by the way." Courtney laughed. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be laughing, but even just saying the words, I know how absurd it is."

"Well it isn't what I was expecting," Jason admitted. "I don't understand though, I mean, not that I think you'd ever actually do it, but hasn't she seen that you haven't done anything to Steven yet? What is she waiting for?" He searched her face, looking for any hint of knowledge.

Courtney lifted her shoulders in a slight shrug. "I honestly don't know. But with her in the hospital Jason, I'm a little scared. I don't know what happens to me if something happens to her."

"I think you're safe for now," he said as he tapped his fingers against the papers on his lap. "I have one more question for you though."

"What?"

"Why didn't you come to me before now?"

* * *

Rachel sighed. She had been staring at the phone in her hands for almost twenty minutes now and she still had no idea what she was doing. Who was she going to call anyway? AJ? And tell him what, exactly? That she figured out his sick twisted plot and was going to tell on him? Yeah, okay. He'd be long gone before she even hung up the phone and then she'd have no way of finding him. She wasn't even sure what she was going to do to him.

She needed to be calm and rational about this. Calm and rational weren't adjectives ever used to describe her out of her professional life though and she wasn't sure how to go about this. She needed a plan, and she'd probably need help, but who was going to help her now? Courtney most likely wouldn't. Strike that. Courtney definitely wouldn't. She could charm her way into Jax's good graces again, but on the off chance of ever telling Courtney the truth, did she really want more drama between them? There had to be someone.

"Rachel!"

_Of course!_ Rachel smiled at the figure in the doorway. "Hey," she said, surprised at how weak her voice sounded. She tried to cough, but her throat was dry.

Steven moved to the side of the bed and poured some water from the pitcher. "When did you wake up?" he asked, handing her the cup. "I was here not long ago and you were still sleeping. Are you okay? How do you feel?"

"Like I got shot," she remarked after the cool liquid slid down her throat. She smiled again. "It hurts like hell, but I think I can manage."

"Well, now that you're awake, we can give you something a little stronger for the pain." He sat down next to her. "You gave me a bit of a scare, you know."

"I did?" Rachel rolled her eyes. "And here I thought you would have been positive that I'd bounce back like nothing happened."

"Well, I was hoping," he shot back with a grin. "But I was still scared." She was surprised when his hand found hers but she put a smile on her face anyways.

"Weren't ready to say good-bye just yet?" she asked lightly.

"Not even close."

Rachel's eyes widened as his hand gripped hers tighter and she pulled away uneasily. "Well, it's good to know someone was watching out for me."

"Not just me, Courtney was here most of the day yesterday," Steven said. "She was really concerned, was asking about your family and how to contact them."

"She asked about my family?"

Steven nodded. "I thought she knew you were adopted, but apparently it was a surprise to her. I let her know that you had possibly found your parents though, and it seemed like she was going to try and find out if you had contacted them yet."

"I see." Rachel closed her eyes. When she opened them again, Steven was staring down at her almost adoringly and she wasn't quite sure how to handle that. She'd need him, she was sure; it wasn't as though she had any other friends in town. She highly doubted he would be much help, but all the same, a friendly face wasn't something she could turn away now.

His beeper went off, saving her from any further conversation and he looked at her apologetically. "I really need to get that. Do you want me to order something for the pain before I go?"

"That'd be nice," she admitted. She reached out and grabbed his hand before he could move and she swore he swooned in front of her. "You're such a sweetheart, thank you Steven." She smiled at him and winked as he left the room.

Well, that was going to be easier than she thought as she set the phone back down on the table next to her. Steven would most likely do whatever she needed him to do, if she could only figure out what that was.

She didn't have much time now. If Courtney knew that she had found her parents, as Steven had said, she was pretty sure Courtney would take it upon herself to do a little investigating, and then everything would be out in the open.

Rachel wasn't sure she wanted that at the moment. It all depended on what she was going to do about AJ. Letting Courtney in on everything might just complicate things.

As if they weren't complicated enough.

* * *

Courtney stared at Jason for a moment. "Why didn't I come to you?" she repeated slowly. "Let's see, why didn't I come to you? Maybe because we're not married anymore? Or maybe because part of our biggest problem was that I didn't want you fixing all of my problems. Maybe I didn't want to cause any drama between us and our significant others, because let's face it Jason, neither of them are comfortable with us being friends."

"Okay, well why didn't you go to Jax?"

She laughed. "Oh I did. I did go to Jax and do you know what good that did? He thinks I'm lying. He thinks I made all of this up because I'm actually guilty and trying to cover my tracks. He thinks Rachel's not capable of murder." Her voice dripped with sarcasm with every word.

"But you are?" Jason frowned.

"Apparently so." She shrugged again. "But, whatever my reasons were in the past, the fact is, I'm here now. I haven't come to you for help with that though, I came to you about Rachel's family."

"Right." Jason sighed. "Well, you were right, Rachel was adopted, and she had hired a private investigator to locate her birth parents, and they were found."

"Was Stan able to find out who her parents were?"

He nodded. "Here," he said. He hesitated before handing her the birth certificate that had been faxed over earlier. He watched as her eyes scanned it quickly. They widened and then squinted immediately, as she reread the document, more carefully this time.

"I—" She tore her eyes away and looked at Jason. "This is a joke, right?"

"No." Jason shook his head. "Courtney, I called the hospital and confirmed it. The doctor from the delivery was still there.

"Jason, this is _my _birth certificate. I mean, it's not, but well…" She looked down at the paper again. "This can't be possible," she murmured. "If it's true, it means—well it would mean that—" She looked up again.

"Rachel is my sister." Courtney's voice was full of bewilderment as she finally got the words out. "My twin? It's not possible. I mean, is it possible?"

"Yeah, it's possible." Jason came back to the couch with a glass of water for her. "I'm sorry, I didn't know how else to tell you, I—"

"No, it's fine." Courtney gripped the glass as she still stared at the birth certificate. "I don't understand, I mean… my mother's _never _said anything about this. And dad wouldn't have kept this from me after everything with Sonny. What happened? Why would she give up one baby and not me? I don't get it. I—"

The door opened then, breaking her off mid-sentence and Jason looked up to see Sam come in, her arms full of shopping bags. "Jason, can you give me a hand here, there was a really great sale at—oh, Courtney." She dropped her bags and looked at the two on the sofa. "I didn't know you were coming by today."

"Hi Sam." Courtney didn't look up from the piece of paper that still had her mesmerized.

"Sam," Jason ran his hand through his hair. "I didn't expect you home for awhile still. Do you think that you could give us a little more time?"

Sam stared at him for a long moment. "Yeah," she said finally. "Sure, I'll go pick up some lunch for us from Kelly's."

"Great." He smiled at her as he ushered her out of the room. "We won't be very long."

Sam raised her eyebrows at Jason before nodding. "I'll be back soon," she said, reaching over and kissing his cheek. "Bye Courtney."

"Bye." She didn't look up until the door slammed heavily against the frame and she jumped. Her trance was broken and she looked at Jason sympathetically. "You didn't have to send her away," she said finally, knowing from her own experiences with Jax what he would have to deal with later.

He shook his head. "You're still processing this, you didn't need an audience."

Courtney sighed. "Jason, what do I do now?" she asked.

He shrugged and sat next to her again. "I can't tell you that, but I don't think it's going to go away if you just ignore it."

"You're right," she said with a sigh. She pressed her hands to her face, rubbing her temples. "This was the last thing I expected to find out today," she said before uncovering her face. She was a little unsteady as she stood up and Jason was quick to catch her.

"Sit down," he urged.

"I need to get to the hospital," she said with a shake of her head. " I need to talk to Rachel, and see if she knows any of this. Figure out what's going on." She paused at the doorway and gave Jason a small smile. "Thanks," she said simply.

"Let me know if you need anything, okay?" He stared at her until she nodded. "We'll get this all sorted out, and I promise I'm not going to let you get dragged any further into this AJ thing."

She nodded. "I'll be in touch," she said. She smiled once more and left the penthouse, leaving Jason to watch as the elevator doors slid close. He shut the door and then walked back to the couch to retrieve the documents Courtney had left.

If there was more to Rachel than she was letting on, he was going to be the one to find out.

* * *

Her eyes were closed but Rachel was only pretending to sleep. A nurse had been in earlier to check on her and to give her the promised painkiller, and while the discomfort had subsided, the last thing Rachel wanted to do after waking up from a coma was to nap.

So she faked sleep. It was the only way to keep Steven at bay, as he was checking on her every fifteen minutes on the minute. As long as her eyes were shut, he didn't enter, he only poked his head into the room before resuming his rounds.

She was starting to seriously reconsider this keeping Steven as a friend idea.

Rachel was about to open her eyes but she heard the door open again and sighed inwardly. It hadn't been fifteen minutes yet, had he run out of patients to see? She tried to stay motionless, holding her eyes closed. She was surprised to hear footsteps entering the room but was pleased to note that they weren't heavy enough to be Steven's.

There was only one other person who would be there to see her, and honestly, Rachel wasn't sure how she would deal with that so she stayed as she was and hoped her visitor would leave quickly.

Courtney sat down and drew her chair closer to Rachel's bed. She stared at her for a long moment and chuckled in spite of herself.

"You're no better than pretending to be asleep than I am Rachel," she said quietly, leaning closer. She sat back to wait, folding her hands in her lap.

Rachel pressed her lips together and then opened her eyes slowly. Looking at Courtney, she knew there was no use in lying. "I guess it runs in the family then," she said, making direct eye contact.

Courtney took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "So it's true," she said finally. Rachel nodded at her.

"Ironic, isn't it?" she asked.

"It's definitely something," Courtney agreed. "When did you find out?"

"About an hour before I was shot," she answered. "I think I was going to tell you when I came to the Metro-Court."

"You think?"

Rachel nodded. "I don't want to lie, I wasn't sure if I was or not. I wanted to, but at the same time I knew it probably wasn't the best idea. I think I would have told you though."

"Steven told me about the adoption," Courtney explained. "I had Jason check into it because I didn't like the idea of you being here without family, but Rachel, I had no idea that _this_ was going to be the result."

"It's a lot to take in," Rachel agreed.

"To say the least!" Courtney shook her head. "What happens now Rachel? I don't know what you thought when you found out but, all I could think was, 'my sister is going to frame me for a murder she committed.' You can't honestly expect me to say welcome to the family after that. I don't know what to do now."

"If it makes you feel better, I'm dropping the plan against Steven," Rachel said, trying to keep her voice light. Courtney didn't relax any, not visibly anyways. "And I'm not going to go to the police and have you arrested for AJ's death."

"You're going to tell them you killed AJ?" Courtney's voice was full of disbelief.

"No," Rachel said with a shake of her head. "But Courtney—"

"Unbelievable." Courtney stood from her chair and shook her head at the other blonde. "I can't do this. I can't sit here and make jokes like you are. I can't pretend that the last two months haven't happened. I just can't."

"Courtney, please. Let me explain. I—"

"Please. Just stop." Courtney held up her hand. "I came here to see if you were awake, and you are. I wanted to know if you knew about us, and you do. I don't know where to go from here and I don't know that I even want to." She picked up her purse and headed for the door.

"Courtney, just listen—"

"I can't." Courtney sighed and paused in the doorway. "I'm glad you're awake Rachel, I really am," she kept her voice even and didn't turn to look at her. "But that's all I can say right now." She left quickly, closing the door on any response Rachel had for her.

Rachel stared at the door and was surprised at the sensations in the pit of her stomach. She shook them off, chalking them up to residual effects from the painkillers.

"AJ's alive, Courtney," she whispered to the now empty room. She felt tears stinging at her eyes and angrily brushed them away, hating that they were even there.

This wasn't her. Rachel Adaire was anything but weak. She never cried and she never let her emotions get the best of her. Behavior like that only ruined things, it created messes, and it only furthered her beliefs that complications would arise.

If there was one thing she didn't need right now, it was any more complications.

"He's alive Courtney," she whispered again. "But I'll be damned if I let you know that now."


End file.
